[313] 12.
From intimacy fear is born;
from a dwelling, dust arises.
To be without dwelling, without intimacy —
this truly is the vision of a sage (muni).
Whoever, having cut off what has arisen, would not plant it anew,
nor would feed it as it springs up —
him they call the sage who wanders alone;
that great seer has seen the state of peace (santipada).
Having appraised the grounds, having destroyed the seed,
he would not supply it with moisture;
he truly is the sage who sees the end in the destruction of birth;
having abandoned speculation, he comes to no reckoning.
Having understood all abodes,
not longing for any one of them,
he truly is the sage: rid of greed, not greedy,
he strives no more, for he has gone beyond.
The vanquisher of all, the knower of all, of excellent wisdom,
unstained among all dhammas,
who has given up all, liberated in the destruction of craving (taṇhā) —
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
One endowed with the power of wisdom, with virtue and vows,
concentrated, delighting in jhāna, mindful,
released from attachments (saṅga), free from barrenness, free from taints (āsava) —
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
The sage wandering alone, heedful,
unshaken amid blame and praise —
like the lion unstartled at sounds,
like the wind uncaught in a net,
like the lotus unsoiled by water —
a leader of others, himself to be led by none:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Whoever stands firm as the pillar at a bathing-ford,
when others speak of him in extremes of speech —
that one, free from lust, with faculties well composed:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Whoever, steadfast in himself, straight as a shuttle,
is repelled by evil deeds,
examining the uneven and the even:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Whoever, self-controlled, does no evil —
whether young or of middle age — a sage, self-restrained,
not to be provoked to anger and provoking no one:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Whoever, subsisting on what others give,
should receive almsfood from the choice portion, the middling, or the remainder,
and neither deigns to praise nor speaks in disparagement:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
The sage who wanders abstaining from sexual intercourse,
who in youth is nowhere bound,
abstaining from intoxication and heedlessness, wholly detached:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Having understood the world, a seer of the highest goal (paramattha),
who has crossed over the flood (ogha) and the ocean — that steadfast one (tādī),
with knots (gantha) cut, unattached, free from taints:
him, too, the wise know as a sage.
Unequal are these two, far apart in dwelling and way of life:
the householder supporting a wife, and the unselfish one of good vows.
The householder is unrestrained as to the destruction of other beings' lives;
the sage, being restrained, ever protects living beings.
Just as the peacock, the crested, blue-necked bird of the air,
never attains the swiftness of the swan,
so the householder cannot match the bhikkhu,
the sage meditating secluded in the forest.
The Muni Sutta, the Twelfth.
The Uraga Vagga, the First.
The summary (uddāna) thereof:
Uraga, Dhaniya, Khaggavisāṇa, Kasi, and Cunda;
Parābhava, Vasala, Metta, Hemavata and Āḷavaka; then
Vijaya and Muni — these twelve they call the Uraga Vagga.
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In the Suttanipāta: the Cūḷavagga, the Second.
First: the Ratana Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.